Pics of Molly's nubs... supposed to be disbudded this afternoon, what do you think?

[jen74145]

We have an appointment for this afternoon for Molly to be disbudded... but I worry that her nubs are too far out and this might not go well. Have never used the vet who will be doing it, and I've had vets be sneaky (read money hungry) with us before, so thought I'd get some opinions. Will she be alright if we do this? Are they so far out we should not attempt it? Sorry, just really care for this little goat of mine, and don't want my own ignorance to allow some untrustworthy person to disbud her when she should not be...

Her horns do HAVE to go, she's begun playbutting the dogs and cats. She's so small now they hardly notice, but soon she'll be big, and with horns... yikes.






I know the pics are grainy, but her nubs are up about 1/4 inch from the skin line...

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Pefect, you want to be able to identiy exactly where they are to get a good burn. Snip off the litte points first and apply the iron long ways to the top of them to stop them from bleeding and proceed with the disbudding. Vicki

[jen74145]

Thank you so much, Vicki! I'm just agonizing, love her to bits and hate that she has to be hurt at all, and am scared to death something might go wrong... thank you so much for the reassurance!

[manygoatsnmore]

Be strong, "mommy"! Sometimes we have to let our babies (human or goat) suffer a bit of pain in order for them to grow up strong and safe. Remember that disbudding sounds awful, and smells worse, but that you are saving her from ever being caught on a fence by those horns, which can KILL her. Just make sure the vet gives her a shot of tetanus vaccine (CDT) and the short-acting immediate anti-tetanus toxoid both while you are having her disbudded. Hang in there - it'll be over before you know it!

[Hip_Shot_Hanna]

Jen.. just a tip on having her disbudded. When we took Nicholas he was a little over two weeks old. It all went well, but I wish I had shaved the hair off the top of his head first. There was a lot of hair there which was just in the way and had to be burned off too.

In fact, his hair flamed and the vet had to blow it out - no harm done at all, but it does make life easier if the head is shaved around the horn buds!

[ozark_jewels]

Yeah, if you can't shave it, just a simple close clip with some scissors helps a lot.

[alidansma]

Photography tip - take a picture farther away so it is clear and then zoom in and crop in your photo editing program - I spent a lot of time trying to take pictures of my girls head and I had the same problem. I had a girl re-done and I think her horns were a little bigger than that she seems okay now.

[mary,tx]

I'd be interested in hints on how to get a good burn on horn buds that size. I find that if I don't get them within the first few days of birth, I get regrowth. Especially on bucks, but I'd never get a good burn on nubs that big.
mary

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by mary,tx

I'd be interested in hints on how to get a good burn on horn buds that size. I find that if I don't get them within the first few days of birth, I get regrowth. Especially on bucks, but I'd never get a good burn on nubs that big.
mary

I clip them off with a sharp pair of trimmers(sterilized), then cauterize and burn the bud down even with the head, with the *side* of the iron. Then when its flat level with the head(not with the hair, with the scalp), I use the end of the iron to get the ring done. I have never done bucklings this way, but I have successfully done doelings like this.

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Most folks tips on their burners are not large enough insdie diameter to do a good job on bucks unless they are just a few days old. If you can't fit your whole thumb into the inside of your burner (with it turned off than the inside diameter will do nothing but rock back and forth on a nub this large, leaving you with awful scurs on the sides and in the front of the bucks head. We remove the tip that comes with the Rhinehart 50 and refit it with a 3/4 inch inside diameter copper water fitting, it heats it up cherry red being copper, and because it has a big enough diameter to kill the horn bud root all the way around the horn, you get no regrowth. Sure I have the odd kid now and then that gets an awful job done but on a whole my heads are perfect. We have even heated up a larger copper pipefitting before, held it with vice grips with my husbands welding gloves on and disbudded/dehorned much larger kids that came in for resale with horns, bloddy initially but it works wonderful, we heated them up between burnings with a propane torch. Vicki

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians

If you can't fit your whole thumb into the inside of your burner (with it turned off )

LOL!! So glad you added that Vicki....my first thought when reading that was "OW"! Quite a "duh" moment....

[Starsmom]

The guy that does my goats does a real good job. Not too much in the way of scurs. He burns the ring, then scoops out the center and cauterizes good. Leaves little holes in their heads for a couple days, but if it cauterized good then its ok. Sometimes I'll but little bandages over their heads and duct tape it on to keep it clean. But, most bucks are gonna get scurs, their horn buds are just too big.